3-LS3-2: Explain how the environment affects traits.

Official text

Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.

What it means for your child

Your child uses evidence to explain that the environment can affect a plant's or animal's traits, like a plant growing tall and pale in dim light.

Try it at home

1. Grow two of the same plant, one in a sunny spot and one in a dim spot, and compare them.
2. Talk about how a pet that gets too much food and little exercise can become overweight.
3. Ask, 'Is this trait inherited, learned, or affected by where it lives?'